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6. Evidence and Use: Sustainable Development Watch Video Connection Speed: High Speed Low Speed    Event Title : Making Smart Policy: Using Impact Evaluation for Policy Making Date : 1/15/2008 Duration : 76 minutes Language  : English Country/Region : World Keyword :  Evaluation Monitoring  Sustainable Development   Presenter : Judy  Baker John Hoddinott Dominique  van de Walle | Related Material | Recommendations |Related B-SPAN Videos |  DESCRIPTION  Impact evaluations assess the degree to which a particular policy, program or policy has affected the well-being of individuals. They can play a tremendous role in making effective policy and necessitate a larger discussion in the context of efforts to improve development effectiveness. On January 15 to 16 2008 the conference “Making Smart Policy: Using Impact Evaluation for Policy Making” was held at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized by the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM), Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), and Development Economics (DEC) networks of the World Bank, with co-sponsorship by DFID and the Government of the Netherlands. The session on ‘Sustainable Development’ was introduced and chaired by Judy Baker, Senior Economist, Finance Economics and Urban, at the World Bank. The first presenter was Jocelyne Delarue, Evaluation Officer at the French Development Agency. Delarue presented the experience of the French Development Agency (FDA) in conducting two evaluations about micro finance projects. The first project concerned a micro finance institution which provides credit to micro enterprises in the urban sectors of Madagascar. She described the two phases of the study and the different methodologies used. Delarue also stated that this project, despite relatively robust results, resulted in limited policy implications and use. As result, she explained, the second impact evaluation—for a micro finance institution acting in urban areas of Morroco-- drew on these lessons to improve the use of the evidence gathered. This second evaluation was commissioned in order to evaluate the impact of credit on rural households. The next presentation was delivered by John Hoddinott, Deputy Division Director of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPI). Hoddinot talked about IFPI’s experiences evaluating a large scale food security program, Ethiopia’s Food Security Program. He explained the program’s characteristics and motivations, as well as the influence of the evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation, he stated, was to evaluate the impact of the Food Security Program on the well being of chronically food insecure people of rural Ethiopia. Hooddinott also explained the different components of the evaluation, highlighting what accounted for its successes and challenges. Dominique van de Walle, Lead Economist, Public Services, DECVP at the World Bank, was the final presenter. Walle spoke about an impact evaluation conducted on a World Bank-financed railroad rehabilitation project, which was implemented in Vietnam between 1997 and 2001. She explained that the objective of the project was to reduce poverty by rehabilitating roads that led to commune centers. Walle stated that evaluation looked at whether the funds were being appropriately used, as well as the impact of the project on alleviating poverty. The session concluded with a question and answer session.  RELATED MATERIALS   Related Materials: Making Smart Policy: Using Impact Evaluation for Policy Making  Poverty Impact Evaluations Database Related World Bank and Other Sites: World Bank: Impact Evaluation World Bank: Independent Evaluation Group Related B-SPAN Events: Making Smart Policy: Using Impact Evaluation for Policy Making (Main Page) Economics and Financing of Malaria Control   RELATED B-SPAN EVENTS Evaluation Monitoring (56) Sustainable Development (77)